Gamescom Asia is evolving. This 12 months, the third occasion within the annual Gamescom calendar has swapped Singapore for Bangkok after merging with Thailand Recreation Present in a bid to ship a showcase organizers declare would be the largest within the area.
The hope is that the new-look occasion, dubbed Gamescom Asia x Thailand Recreation Present, will delver a sturdy B2B and B2C unfold that unites professionals, publishers, and gamers. However how are organizers working behind the scenes to ship on that promise? We caught up with Koelnmesse venture director Daria La Valle, who oversees the occasion, to seek out out.
Chatting with Recreation Developer, La Valle says the hope is that uniting Gamesom Asia and Thailand Recreation Present will facilitate widespread information sharing between the East and West. She describes Asia as a “fragmented market” that may be tough for these past its borders to parse, and feels it may be simply as robust for Asian builders to make inroads in Western markets. Therein lies a possibility.
“Finally, it isn’t about one area doing higher than the opposite, it’s about world success because the world of gaming converges globally,” says La Valle. “All through the previous few years, Gamescom Asia x Thailand Recreation Present has grown to be the most important B2B present for the video games business in Southeast Asia with a observe document of bringing high worldwide knowledgeable audio system to the area.”
She claims increasing the occasion in service of that mission is an “ongoing chase” that can require organizers to be candid about their very own successes and shortcomings to make sure the occasion can meaningfully evolve in service of exhibitors and attendees.
“Take as an illustration the case of Gamescom Asia launching throughout covid,” she explains. “We’re not gonna faux that didn’t put us on the again foot and made issues actually tough. Regardless of that, every year we’ve grown in scope, measurement and degree of participation in each B2B and B2C.
“This 12 months after all now we have a big progress aspect for B2C as we take the present to Thailand. However to ensure we proceed to attain that purpose, we have to keep an area that pulls devs from internationally to come back collectively and collaborate. To iron out points they see within the business and to kind partnerships and develop collectively.”
“We’re extraordinarily conscious of price pressures for each exhibitors and attendees”
Discussing the transfer from Singapore to Bangkok with that context in thoughts, La Valle feels it might have been tough to develop the occasion’s B2C providing had Gamescom Asia stayed put.
“With the character of Singapore being a comparatively small market, that meant on the B2C facet there was solely a lot progress that may very well be achieved. We nonetheless have a robust relationship with the Singapore authorities and are actually grateful for the help they’ve given the present in its early years,” La Valle continues.
“How can we make the B2C portion of the occasion thrive? With an even bigger and higher shopper present, that’s going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Thai video games group is a incredible one, from the avid gamers to the devs, they’ve welcomed us with open arms.”
La Valle additionally insists Gamescom Asia x Thailand Recreation Present will actively help native builders to make sure they are not overshadowed in their very own yard when the sport business’s main gamers come to city. It is a pledge that comes months after some Brazilian builders at Gamescom LATAM claimed they have been mistreated by organisers in an open letter addressed to Gamescom administration.
“Indie devs have been key to our success from day one. We’ve all the time had a devoted indie space, hosted by a few of the area’s main devs,” stated La Valle. “This 12 months now we have greater than 200 devs exhibiting throughout our devoted indie areas and nation pavilions. There’s actually no danger of indies getting sidelined at Gamescom Asia x Thailand Recreation Present.”
As well as, La Valle says Gamescom organizers are aware of the prices related to occasion attendance and are striving to ship worth with initiatives akin to providing free enterprise customer tickets to those that pre-register and offering particular charges to some commerce our bodies all over the world.
“We’re extraordinarily conscious of price pressures for each exhibitors and attendees and we try to offer essentially the most worth. The way in which we do that is by placing collectively the very best present and creating essentially the most alternatives for folks to fulfill, come collectively and collaborate. A superb consequence for the occasion is one the place folks can study but additionally community. We make investments closely in events, mixers and devoted areas the place folks can discover one another,” stated La Valle.
“These price pressures are compounded in Asia as a really cost-conscious atmosphere and we worth issues accordingly. Finally, we herald an excellent viewers and put collectively an excellent occasion and that reveals from the truth that now we have a number of repeat exhibitors from the indie dev group who’ve been with us for a number of years. We’ve actually seen them and their video games develop.”
The proof, after all, is the pudding. Keep tuned to Recreation Developer for extra Gamescom Asia protection straight from Thailand over the approaching weeks.
Recreation Developer is attending Gamescom Asia x Thailand Recreation Present 2025 as a media companion, with flights and lodging being coated by occasion organisers.
